The Red Ball
"The Red Ball" is the third episode of the third season of the Adult Swim original series The Boondocks. It aired on May 16, 2010. Plot To pay off his debts, Ed Wuncler, Sr. bets everything he owns, including the town of Woodcrest, against a Chinese businessman, Mr. Long-dou, on a kickball game between their two teams. Wuncler persuades Granddad into trying to talk Huey (described as the Tiger Woods of kickball "before the wife-cheating thing") into playing the game. Initially refusing to play, after Huey meets Long-dou's granddaughter Ming, captain of the Chinese team and a formidable kickball player herself, he agrees to play. When Wuncler's hand-picked team consisting of Dominican immigrants and Blackwater mercenaries is disbanded, Wuncler puts Huey in charge of assembling a new team within two days. Huey gathers players from the neighborhood: Tom Dubois, Granddad, Ed Wuncler III, Riley, Cindy McPhearson, a Tibetan named Jingmei who wishes to humiliate the Chinese, Butch Magnus, and Mrs. Von Heusen. Wuncler is furious over these choices, but Huey says that they are the best Woodcrest has to offer. During the match, the Woodcrest teams suffers from corrupt officiating, but when Gin Rummy sneaks in and kills the referee, Wuncler has him replaced with Uncle Ruckus. Meanwhile, Ming tells Huey she will be tortured if she doesn't win the game. This works until Huey overhears two Chinese mocking him for falling for a ruse, the game quickly gets violent. By the end of the game, all of the Woodcrest and Chinese players are incapacitated except for Huey and Ming. With the score tied 8-8 in the last inning, Huey throws his most powerful pitch, which she kicks directly back toward him, shattering her leg. He catches it, causing his arm to break and the ball to pop, and tags her out with the smoking remains as she tries to crawl to first base. Woodcrest is declared the winner, and Wuncler, praised by ruckus for his "great white leadership," leaves Huey's team to bask in whatever glory they can find. Trivia *This the first episode since the pilot in which Ed Wuncler speaks directly to his grandson. *Uncle Ruckus' comment after the Wushung player was downed is a reference the Industrial Revolution in America. At the time, Chinese laborers was instructed to work when they were told for as long as they were told or risk a cut in pay. *Going with the above: Uncle Ruckus calling Long-dou "Chairman Mao" is an obvious reference to the Chinese Philosopher/Revolutionist, Mao Zedong. *Ed Wuncler's reference to the name change to "Kickball" may also elude to the fact its more violent cousin, Dodgeball has been banned from many schoolyards in America. *Ms. Van Heusen, Butch, Gin Rummy and Cindy do not speak at any time in the episode. *In the episode, Ed Wuncler voices his complaint that one of the Wushung players is clearly overrage due to his massive physical built. However, Long-dou assures that he is only 12 years old and an aid behind him holds up a birth certificate to verify this. This is a reference to the 2008 Chinese Olympic games and the controversy surrounding the ages of the Chinese gymnastics team members. *The referee decides to take Long-dou's chinese money bribe over Ed Wuncler's American money, which is a comment on the decreasing value of the American dollar. *When Ming talks of the Chinese Rehabilitation Center where athletes who fail the country get punished, there is a brief flash to a hurdler. It may be a reference to the 2008 Chinese Olympic Games when national star and defending champion Liu Xiang backed out of his race due to injury, causing a giant letdown for the entire country and his resulting drop in status. *Many of the exaggerated super-speed and super-powered kickball moves, especially Huey's final kick and his catch, are probably influenced by the Chinese comedy movie Shaolin Soccer. *This episode is a reference to the current recession in America. Ed Wuncler Sr. in this episode represents the US bankers, and Wushang the Chinese government that the US Government is borrowing money from. The debt of Wuncler Sr. is a reference to the debt the US economy is under because the banks make "derivitive" bets and some loose money, forcing the government to borrow it from china. Having betting with the freeman's House and other assetts as a possibility to pay off those debts is a reference to how the banks bet not with their own money, but the peoples money. *Much of the episode is a parody of the Samurai Champloo anime episode "Baseball Blues". Quotes "I admit I am envious of you. In China, if you lose 20 billion dollars, they shoot you. Here, they give you another 20 billion dollars!" ~ Long-dou at the very beginning of the episode. Category:Season 3